Sushil Kumar's Olympic bronze medal may have come as a pleasant surprise to his countrymen but the Delhi wrestler says he did not emerge out of the blue and walked away with the glory.

"Probably you may say that there was no expectation from the people back home and the media too. But me and my coach (Satpal) always knew I had a fair chance of winning a medal and I'm happy I could achieve that," a beaming Sushil told reporters at the China Agricultural University in Beijing.

"While it is good not to have that burden of expectation on your shoulder, I think we can give even more provided we get better facilities," said the wrestler, taking the occasion to make a point.

"I want to dedicate this medal to my coach Satpal," said Sushil who is the current world number seven.

Sushil's pursuit for the glory paid off after he had competed as the world number four in Athens Games but was forgotten since then.

Sushil admitted things looked bleak after the opening round defeat against eventual silver medallist Andriy Stadnik but said repechage offered a ray of hope and he did not want to let it go.

"It was not easy out there. I had to compete in four bouts today, which did make me weary towards the end. I had not played against Doug Schwab (USA) and Albert Batyrov (Belarus) earlier. So they were unknown rivals for me," he said.

"But once I got past them and had Leonid Spiridinov (Kazakhstan) against me, I sensed my chance. I said to myself 'I cannot let it go after coming so close to a medal'. And if I was tired, so was he," said Sushil.

"I thought I'll do whatever it takes and the end result is the medal is mine. It's an unforgettable moment in my life and it seems I'm living in a dream," said the grappler.

The performance

In a gutsy performance, freestyle wrestler Sushil Kumar bagged an Olympic bronze medal for India at Beijing.

Kumar had earlier gone down in the opening round of the men's 66 kg freestyle competition, but remained alive in the Games, as his conqueror fought his way through to the final.

Kumar had lost to Ukrainian Andriy Stadnik on points after being pegged down 3-8 on technical points.

While the luck of the draw gave Sushil a bye in the first round, giving him a start straightaway in the quarterfinals, Standnik had to beat 2007 world no 5 American Doug Schwab in the round of 16 to move further.

In the quarters, Stadnik, a former World Cup winner and 2006 World Championship bronze medallist, out-played the Indian.

As Stadnik, quarterfinalist at the 2007 World Championships, moved into the final, all those who lost to him came through to the Repechage, which would decide the two bronze medallists.

In the Repechage round, Sushil beat three opponents to win the bronze for India.

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